The desert of Atas is dotted with thousands of nomadic tribes, large and small.

Humans, elves, and halflings have all established their own settlements in the desert, relying primarily on herding Megilot lizards and shell beetles. But many times, they will also be happy to make a cameo appearance as a robber and increase their wealth.

Larger tribes, in addition to strong warriors, will also have their own psychic sorcerers, who will act as the eyes and minds of the tribe. Many times, the reason why a tribe can grow strong and large is because a psychic warlock was born.

The Scorpion Tribe was originally a large tribe in the Tyre area, with a powerful and wise psychic sorcerer who had long served as the tribe's chanter. Unfortunately, the singer passed away not long ago due to old age and infirmity. Therefore, the current Scorpion tribe, except for Muhadi, does not have a master of psychic abilities. Although it also has nearly a thousand brave warriors, it is worthy of the title of a large tribe. But this situation is dangerous, and if there is a war with other large tribes with psychic magicians, then the scorpions will face an extremely dangerous situation.

Sheikh Abiad and Muhadi's master, Fatumah, took this matter very seriously, and while Muhadi was spending his days in the bazar to pit the caravans and travelers' money, they had already found a teacher who could impart psionic knowledge.

On this day, when the dark red sun had just risen over the horizon of Attas, Fatoumah rushed into Muhadi's room. "Hell, how long are you going to sleep?!!Give you two minutes, and we'll be out right away. If you're not ready in two minutes, get ready to walk naked through the desert. ”

The place where Fatumah was taking Muhadi was known as the Temple of Dust was located in an ancient ruin, less than half a day's ride from the tribal settlement. Legend has it that a long time ago, when Atas was still alive at sea, the ruins of the Temple of Dust were a castle by the sea. The never-ending surging waves crashed against its outer walls, and the ancients used their psychic abilities to make it so strong that no amount of violent tsunamis could shake it. Now, however, the sea has long since dried up, and the castle has become dilapidated, except for the hot sand and strong winds.

The two were riding side by side on the sand, and Fatumah casually threw over a small package, and Muhadi reached out to catch it.

"That's your tuition. ”

"Tuition?"

"Of course, otherwise do you think that old witch will teach you psionic skills for free? What do you think I've been busy with these days? Isn't it just the reward that the old witch wants. ”

Although she didn't know who the "old witch" she was talking about, Muhathir was a little touched by the fact that Fatoumah had been busy these days and was actually scraping together money for herself. Forget it, when I am free in the future, I won't settle accounts with you.

Fatoumah thought about it for a moment and decided to give Muhadi some additional information. "Remember, Muhadi. We're visiting an old psychic who lives in the Temple of Dust, and is said to have been a Vulichi in the Psionic Abbey as a young woman (a special profession of Attas, a kind of nun of the good faction who learns psionic powers and the ways of the druids. For details, see the Remnants of the Aftermath set. ), but was soon kicked out. ”

"Studying the psychic powers has made her withdrawn and weird, so she's now hiding alone in the Dust Hall. It is said that she lived for hundreds of years, but no one knows for sure. However, the previous psychic warlocks in the tribe also studied with her, and she said that there were more than a hundred years old. ”

It is said that she usually haunts the empty hall alone, soaking in nutrients from dust and shadows. She did not allow any outsiders to enter, except for apprentices who had paid their fees. Even when I came to the door, this old witch only used her spiritual energy to speak. ”

Fatoumah turned his head to look at Muhadi beside him. Judging by the words of her former apprentice, she is irritable and irritable, so be careful. Her words didn't reveal a hint of concern.

The two soon reached the gray ruins where the Dust Hall was located, which itself was long and low, without towers and windows, like a huge stone snake coiled in the black bark forest. The trees in the forest are short and sparse, with needle-like leaves common to desert tree species. However, unlike other tree species, their needles are blue, and they are made from the hallucinogenic drink that desert herders call "Night Shadow Water".

There are no other buildings nearby. Black tiles covered the roof of the main hall, many of which had fallen or been broken, and the plaster between the stones was mostly dry and cracked. Seeing it, Muhadi immediately understood why it was called the Temple of Dust. The horses under their crotches seemed to be a little uneasy because of the approach, and they kept neighing and howling, and exhaled with their nostrils opening and closing.

This place was scary, Muhadi thought to himself, but for some reason that he could not explain himself, he did not want to show weakness in front of Fatoumah.

"Very well," said Muhadi, "now I should go in and find the old witch...... Psychic Warlock?"

Before Fatuma could answer, a clear command sounded from the direction of the main hall, which sounded directly in the minds of the two of them.

"This man has to go alone, just one way. "Could it be that the psychic was always watching to see if anyone was coming outside, Muhadi thought to himself. "If he turns around now, the door of his heart will be closed to him forever. ”

At this moment, Fatumah was riding next to Muhadi with an unhappy face, even if the boy wanted to retreat, there was no way out.

Muhadi nodded to Fatoumah and tried to push the horse forward, but the horse remained there as if it were enchanted, refusing to move even a step. The boy had no choice but to roll over and dismount, and walk forward under Fatoumah's concerned gaze.

Although the Black Forest is very sparse, the sunlight has darkened strangely, and the temperature has dropped by a few degrees unconsciously. The road was longer than Muhadi had imagined, leading from outside the Black Forest to the main entrance of the basilica.

Then the command sounded again, "Take a fork in the road." ”

Why? Muhathir wondered,

The voice seemed to peek into Muhadi's thoughts, "There is no entry and exit on the road ahead, because the Temple of Dust was not built by mortals." When you come in, remember to take the first door on the right every time, and when you encounter a staircase, you will climb up and never go down. Comes and goes the same, and the same goes when you leave. ”

Muhadi wondered, and then he took a fork in the road, detoured to the back of the main hall, and pushed open a hidden stone door.

The boy now entered a stone hall by himself, with a door on each side, and he stepped into the door on the right without hesitation. The second room is exactly the same as the first. He chose the door on the right again, and when he pushed it open, he saw another stone room with four doors. What kind of witchcraft is this, is it a hallucination in my head?

The fourth room was not square, but oval, and the walls were no longer stone, but some kind of long-rotten wood, and it had five doors instead of four, and Muhadi chose the rightmost one, entering a long, dimly lit corridor. The ceiling is high, and on the right is a row of iron rings with torches, which are long gone, and the iron rings have been rusted and unshaped. All the doors are on the left.

There was some kind of carving on the ground under his feet, but he couldn't see it clearly from the corroded years of early education, and when he walked on the ground, he made a thumping sound, as if the floor was empty.

In addition to the sound of footsteps, al-Muhadi heard a small sound, a small, hectic scratch, like the wriggling of a mouse, coming from the walls. More disturbing sounds came from behind some of the closed doors, one of which was slammed and shook as if something was about to break through, and the screeching sound of a flute came from behind the other, making it difficult to calm down at the first hearing.

Not all doors are closed. I shouldn't have been distracted, Muhadi told himself, but the temptation was strong.

In one room, he saw a dehydrated corpse, withered and emaciated, with several lizard-like monsters crawling on the corpse and munching on it, with human eyes, but only the greed and hunger of a beast.

Further on, he saw an endless plain behind the door, and countless fierce warriors wrapped in turbans formed a mighty and majestic army, they were lined up in a neat phalanx, with the crescent moon banner fluttering overhead. A man who couldn't see his face swept past the phalanxes on horseback. "Holy War! Holy War! Holy War!" all the warriors shouted with all their might, thousands of scimitars raised in the air, their eyes flashing with frenzy and sacrifice.

Muhati escaped from this door and stopped at the next. I recognize the door, he thought. He remembered the mahogany door frame, and he could recognize the marks left by the keyhole and sticker on the door. This is his old home on earth, the old house in Tarbahatai. "Who? Son, are you back? "Mother's voice came from the door. No, it's impossible, Muhati reminded himself in his heart. I'm in Attas, not on Earth, even if it's my hometown, and I haven't been back for years.

He stepped back and ran away. The corridor stretches and stretches forward, with endless doors on the left and empty hoops of torches on the right. He didn't know how many doors he had run through, some of them were closed, some of them were open, some of them were wooden or some of them were stone, some of them were finely carved, some of them were ordinary, some of them had handles, some of them were locks or knockers. Muhadi felt as if something was chasing after him, and ran as hard as he could, until he ran out of breath.

Finally, a pair of huge bronze doors appear on the left, grander than all the others. As she approached, the door opened automatically, and he couldn't help but stop and watch. Inside the door was the largest grotto he had ever seen in his life, a huge corpse of a dead dragon fell in the grotto, dragon blood splattered everywhere, and a strange bee-like creature larger than a man hovered above the dragon corpse, proudly proclaiming, "Let Atas see this scene! Let the people of Atas know that mortals have been born and the age of the Witch King is over!"

Muhadi continued as if he had walked another hourglass, and at last the corridor came to an end, with a steep stone staircase leading down into the darkness. Looking behind him, every door, open or closed, was on his left.

Unable to go down the stairs, Muhadi remembered the warning given to him by the "voice", but there was no door on the right side of the ghost hallway, it was all blank!

Did I accidentally slip through? Or is there a secret door on the right, or an invisible door? Muhadi reached out and groped for the wall on the right, and then he suddenly realized that the first door on the right was the last door on the left.

Muhadi slammed in. Inside the door is another four-door hut. He walked through the door on the right, right, right, right, until he was dizzy and out of breath.

When he stopped again, there was a stairwell in front of him, and stone stairs spiraled upward. Muhadi began to climb, and soon his legs became sore, and then it occurred to him that, from the outside, the hall of dust was not very high.

At the end of the staircase, a row of wide wooden doors was half-open on the right. They are made of sand date wood and desert monster willow wood, and the black and white textures twist and swirl to form a peculiar pattern. They're beautiful, but somehow terrifying. I am a decent man, Muhadi said to himself, begging the true God for courage and strength, and then forcing himself to push the door open and move forward.

Behind the door was a hall with a group of richly dressed waiters. Some of them wore sumptuous robes made of sable, ruby antelope and gold cloth, some in delicate armor encrusted with precious stones, and some in high-pointed hats adorned with stars. Among them was a woman who was all over the country and the city, and her costume was unusually beautiful. Beams of sunlight shine through the stained glass windows at the top of the hall, and the most beautiful music in the world is played in the hall, and even the air seems to come alive.

A man in a gorgeous robe, who looked like a waiter, walked up to the front and smiled at Muhadi. "Muhadi, of the Scorpio tribe, welcome, my mistress will teach you the way of the heart. ”

"We've been waiting for you for a long time," said another waiter, his face as handsome as a star.

"Sheikh Abiad and Fatumah have told us your news. The third waiter continued, "We send a voice to guide you here." ”

The woman who had fallen into the country stood up, dressed in a rosy red and silver robe, with one side of her breasts bare, and the top of the immaculate rube was pale pink. "You're doing a great job, far beyond what I thought. Since you can come here through the guò test, I will share with you the knowledge of the psychic powers. Someday, maybe you, too, can grow into a powerful psychic like me. ”

Suspicion had seized Muhadi, there could never be such a luxurious and gorgeous place in the desert, he thought to himself. It is impossible to have such a perfect woman, no matter how tender her skin is, it will wither in the face of dry wind and flying sand. He looked to the right, and there was another door hidden, an old, gray wooden door, cracked, ordinary...... but to his right hand. The woman persuaded him to stay in a singing sweet voice, but without hesitation he pushed open the fallen wooden door and left her.

Behind the door is a damp stone room...... On the opposite side there is an oval door shaped like an open mouth. Muhaditong Guò now walked outside the Hall of Dust, the dark red sun hanging in the sky, surrounded by sparse black forests, and Fatumah standing in front of him on horseback.

"So soon?!" Fatuma exclaimed in surprise, "I haven't left yet." ”

Muhadi looked at Fatuma in disbelief, "I turned several hourglasses inside, but I didn't find the psychic mancer. ”

"You must have turned the wrong corner. The old witch was fond of tricks, and many people who tried to learn psychic abilities failed because they couldn't find her. Come, I'll lead the way, see what tricks the old witch dares to play, my scimitar will taste some blood!" Fatumah held out his hand.

The man had to be alone, Muhadi remembered the command sent by the "voice" at the beginning. Fatoumah should be outside the Black Forest, it is impossible to get in. Turning to look behind him, there was a small door to the right of the door he had come out of.

He hesitated, and Fatuma was furious, "Slave, you want to rebel against your master?! I have to run around to scrape together enough money, you are not allowed to waste it! Come with me, that psychic warlock will not wait long, she is short of time"

No, Fatuma said that the telemancer was more than a hundred years old, and no matter what method she used to prolong her life, she would not be short of time.

He walked away from her and walked to the right. Behind her, Fatoumah's face collapsed inward, gradually turning into a pale maggot.

Through the narrow door of Guò, Muhadi entered a room immersed in darkness.

At first he thought it was empty, but then the bewitching blue light lit up, and he realized that it was a rudimentary stone chamber, even more dilapidated than the one he lived in. An emaciated figure leaned against the wall. It was an old woman with a wrinkled face and a sparse head. Her flesh is a plump blue-purple color, and her lips and nails are bluer, almost black. Her eyes are also blue-white, and she can't see the pupils. Next to her sat a girl with her head bowed, about the size of Muhadi, dressed in the linen robes common in the desert, and when she noticed someone entering, she quickly raised her eyes for a moment, then lowered her head again.

"I am Lyra, Muhadi of the Scorpio tribe......" said the old woman in a voice that was half whispering and half moaning.

“...... I am your Psychic Master. ”

P.S. I'm having a hard time writing the weird and powerful feeling of a telemancer, even if I borrowed from the passages of Ice and Fire. But Muhadi is finally going to become a telemancer for real, and it's time for the story to unfold.

P.S.'s P.S. Attas's sprite can be found in this image (although this is actually a pyreen)[[[net.com/cc.{0,10}o.{0,10}]]]

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